Image-based systems are commonly used in different businesses and industries. These systems typically include a video camera that obtains and records images within its sensory field. For example, a video camera provides a video record of whatever is within the field of view (FOV) of its lens. The obtained images may then be monitored by a human operator in real time and/or recorded and reviewed later by a human operator. Recent progress has allowed such images to be monitored also by an automated system, improving performance and saving human labor.
Accurate and reliable vehicle presence detection is an important component in an automated access control point (ACP). However, currently employed inductive loop vehicle detector systems, which detect the metal in cars and trucks that pass over a loop wire buried in the roadway, have inherent limitations, including difficulties detecting smaller vehicles and false detections from metallic gates. Furthermore, inductive loops are ill-suited for detection of exceptional conditions or scenarios, such as atypical vehicles, tailgating, or dismount activity. For example, an inductive loop can easily mistake a trailer on a vehicle for another vehicle tailgating it (or vice-versa). Thus, an improved vehicle detection system at ACPs is desirable to overcome these problems.